1. Field of the Invention
The object of the invention is an audio/video device with a replay function and a method for handling a replay function.
2. Brief Description of the Background of the Invention Including Prior Art
The current audio/video devices, such as DVD players or digital television set-top boxes, provide users with a simple, user-friendly interface. The users appreciate intuitive interfaces, which offer automatic assistance by predicting the most likely user requests. However, such interfaces are still far from perfect and require considerable improvements to assist the user in unexpected situations.
One of such situations, in which the current interfaces do not assist the user, occurs when the user is disturbed while watching a television program or a DVD movie. For example, the disturbance may be due to a phone call, an unexpected guest or another member of a household. After the disturbance ends and the user returns to watching, it is often necessary to replay the missed portion. However, the user may be confused as to how much of the audio/video material needs to be replayed and has to search through it manually, which can be time-consuming.
The aforementioned problem is partially solved by using a “pause” feature once the disturbance occurs. The activated “pause” feature, when playing a DVD movie, simply stops the playing, which can be resumed later. In case of digital television set-top boxes equipped with a digital video recording system, the recording system may begin recording the currently watched program on a hard disk to enable its later delayed playback, often called a “time-shift” feature. An exemplary digital video recording system can be found in a U.S. Pat. No. 5,371,551 “Time delayed digital video system using concurrent recording and playback”, which refers to a device comprising a circular buffer which constantly records incoming audio/video signals and allows delayed replay of the stored material.
The user may also partially solve the aforementioned problem by creating a tag, also called a bookmark, at a specific point of the played audio/video material. An exemplary tagging system is known from the publication No. WO03067594, entitled “Centralized digital video recording system with bookmarking and playback from multiple locations”. A tag defines a point in the audio/video material, which can be quickly identified without manual searching within the material.
In turn, the publication No. WO 03/019945 A1 entitled “System and method for mitigating interruptions during television viewing” teaches that in response to an incoming communication request or other interruption, a television signal being currently displayed by an interactive television system is buffered for subsequent playback. The playback of the television signal being buffered in this system may commence when the request is rejected.
In addition, the publication No. WO 03/085938 A2 entitled “Communications terminal device allowing content reception and voice communication” teaches a terminal, in which a content reproduction section reproduces a video signal and an audio signal from a received transport stream. The content reproduction section is also made operable to reproduce the video signal and the audio signal from the transport stream read from the content storage section in an event that voice communication is started during reception/reproduction of contents.
The publication WO 02/03683 A2 entitled “Advanced set top terminal having a program pause feature with voice-to-text conversion” teaches a system for automatically pausing a video program in response to detection of the occurrence of communications event, audio communication event, interactive services, or triggering event.
Furthermore, the publication WO 98/51076 entitled “Time-shifting apparatus and auto-edit system” teaches a method and time shifting event recorder capable of recording portions of a time sequential signal representing an event so that a representation of the event can be produced in a time shifted manner.
However, there often occur disturbing situations when the user does not have the time to issue a pause command or insert a tag. In case of emergencies, unexpected calls, repetitive disturbances, the user may stop watching the material without identifying the point where it was stopped.